Good Morning, Booklovers!
This week’s guest author is mystery writer Erica Obey, bringing us her featured book, The Brooklyn North Murder.
Welcome to the Coffee Chat, Erica. How do you take your coffee?
EO: I drink 2 cups of half-caff in the morning, raspberry tea in the afternoon and evening.
Ally: Then half-caff it is. While I fix our drinks, please tell readers a little about yourself.
BIO:
Erica Obey is the author of The Brooklyn North Murder, the first full-length Watson & Doyle mystery, as well as five other novels set in the Hudson Valley, including the award-winning The Curse of the Braddock Brides. Erica is the Past President of the MWA-NY chapter, and a frequent reviewer and judge. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and published academic work on female folklorists before she decided she’d rather be writing the stories herself.
Something unusual/unique that isn’t in your regular bio: “I can show you how to make Christmas ornaments out of egg cartons and old copies of the Reader’s Digest. (Okay, I didn’t grow up in Lake Woebegon, but it was close.)”
Author Contacts:
Erica Obey is the author of The Brooklyn North Murder, the first full-length Watson & Doyle mystery, as well as five other novels set in the Hudson Valley, including the award-winning The Curse of the Braddock Brides. Erica is the Past President of the MWA-NY chapter, and a frequent reviewer and judge. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and published academic work on female folklorists before she decided she’d rather be writing the stories herself.
Something unusual/unique that isn’t in your regular bio: “I can show you how to make Christmas ornaments out of egg cartons and old copies of the Reader’s Digest. (Okay, I didn’t grow up in Lake Woebegon, but it was close.)”
Author Contacts:
Website: www.ericaobey.com
FB/IG: @Erica Obey (personal), @EricaObeyAuthor (page)
Twitter: @EricaObey
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What inspired your featured book?
EO: I never quite know how to admit it, but this story began when I was in grad school, studying post-modernist critics who argued that classic detective fiction was actually a genre about reading and writing. Somewhere along the line, I got it in my head that I wanted to write a classic fair play mystery rooted in those post-modernist theories. Doyle, the mystery-writing AI bot, came about later when my husband took a job creating these programs for financial and legal software. (Writers, don’t worry. They aren’t even close to programming Doyle yet, and even he gets things wrong all the time.)
Ally: Do people you know sneak into your books as characters?
EO: If they do, I’ll never tell. Let’s just say that living in Woodstock gives you plenty of models – some of them quite famous. So far, I’ve managed to stay on good terms with all of them, and I’d like to keep it that way.
Ally: How many books do you read in a month? Which genre(s)? Favorite authors?
EO: I review and I’ve judged several big contests, so this isn’t really a fair answer, but I respond to talk about reading a book a week by saying, “Try reading over 10 times that number in one year.” Does it sometimes feel like a job rather than a pleasure? Sure – especially when you’re trying to fairly judge authors or genres that are simply not your cup of tea. But it’s equally rewarding to have an inside track on the new books out there, and I’ve discovered a lot of new authors I absolutely love.
Ally: Are you a speed reader or do you settle in and savor a book?
EO: I am a speed reader, by necessity because of the judging and reviewing, but also by inclination. It’s all I can do not to flip to the last page of a mystery, because I WANT TO KNOW. I am constantly trying to discipline myself to settle in and savor. Sometimes I succeed. I remember when the last Harry Potter book came out. I forced myself to read it 100 pages at a time. That lasted 3 days. Then I curled up and read the rest of the book in an afternoon, just like I would have done when I was twelve.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
EO: I’m hard at work on the sequel to Brooklyn North, titled The DeCoverley Riddle. I don’t have a firm release date for that yet, but you can check out new Watson & Doyle stories at the Murder to Die For podcast and The Second Black Beacon Book of Mystery.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
EO:
Ally: What inspired your featured book?
EO: I never quite know how to admit it, but this story began when I was in grad school, studying post-modernist critics who argued that classic detective fiction was actually a genre about reading and writing. Somewhere along the line, I got it in my head that I wanted to write a classic fair play mystery rooted in those post-modernist theories. Doyle, the mystery-writing AI bot, came about later when my husband took a job creating these programs for financial and legal software. (Writers, don’t worry. They aren’t even close to programming Doyle yet, and even he gets things wrong all the time.)
Ally: Do people you know sneak into your books as characters?
EO: If they do, I’ll never tell. Let’s just say that living in Woodstock gives you plenty of models – some of them quite famous. So far, I’ve managed to stay on good terms with all of them, and I’d like to keep it that way.
Ally: How many books do you read in a month? Which genre(s)? Favorite authors?
EO: I review and I’ve judged several big contests, so this isn’t really a fair answer, but I respond to talk about reading a book a week by saying, “Try reading over 10 times that number in one year.” Does it sometimes feel like a job rather than a pleasure? Sure – especially when you’re trying to fairly judge authors or genres that are simply not your cup of tea. But it’s equally rewarding to have an inside track on the new books out there, and I’ve discovered a lot of new authors I absolutely love.
Ally: Are you a speed reader or do you settle in and savor a book?
EO: I am a speed reader, by necessity because of the judging and reviewing, but also by inclination. It’s all I can do not to flip to the last page of a mystery, because I WANT TO KNOW. I am constantly trying to discipline myself to settle in and savor. Sometimes I succeed. I remember when the last Harry Potter book came out. I forced myself to read it 100 pages at a time. That lasted 3 days. Then I curled up and read the rest of the book in an afternoon, just like I would have done when I was twelve.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
EO: I’m hard at work on the sequel to Brooklyn North, titled The DeCoverley Riddle. I don’t have a firm release date for that yet, but you can check out new Watson & Doyle stories at the Murder to Die For podcast and The Second Black Beacon Book of Mystery.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
EO:
- An author (living or dead) you’d love to chat with: Edgar Allan Poe. I want the truth behind how he wound up in that gutter in Baltimore. And I’d love a solid pub crawl with Terry Pratchett, John Dickson Carr, and all the Inklings.
- Your pets: Full disclosure: Yes, I serve as staff to a rotating assortment of cats. The current lineup: The kids, Bubble and Squeak; Ook, the completely mad cat, and Bittman, bought in a car wash while I was out for a run. The guys selling her wanted $50. I went home and called my husband to ask what to do. Classic New York answer: “Go back out there and talk them down.” (We got her for $25.)
- Your hobbies: Gardening, hiking, and messing around in old archives. The best is when I can combine all three, visiting an archive near a famous garden where I can take a hike.
- Favorite childhood book: Narnia. I still remember my Dad sending to England to buy them for my seventh birthday (which probably tells you how old I am).
- Where would you be found on a typical Saturday evening at 8pm? Doing what? Once a month, we have a date night with appetizers and a glass of wine at the Red Lobster, followed by English Country Dancing. (Hey, it’s research for The DeCoverley Riddle.) The other Saturday nights are devoted to crosswords and murder mystery jigsaw puzzles.
Ally: It has been a pleasure meeting you, Erica. Before we finish today, please show us your featured book.
The Brooklyn North Murder
Genre: Mystery
Rating: PG-13
A hi-flying investor determined to make sleepy Morgansburg NY a tech hub, vanishes from the middle of a lake during a triathlon. Mary Watson, a university librarian and computer genius, has to solve the mystery with the help of her Artificial Intelligence program “Doyle.”
Buy Links:
- The Cloak and Dagger: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-brooklyn-north-murder-erica-obey/18583571?ean=9781940442457
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-North-Murders-Novel/dp/1940442451
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-brooklyn-north-murder-erica-obey/1142642951?ean=9781940442457